


Five Times They Almost Went There

by ajuliea



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 18:10:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3819994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ajuliea/pseuds/ajuliea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It took Arya and Gendry a while to get together. It was worth the wait.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times They Almost Went There

1.

Once, they were playing video games in his room after school and Arya was on a tear, complaining as she often did about Ilyn and Meryn teasing her, bullying really, calling her ugly and a virgin.

“You shouldn't let them bother you,” Gendry said, maneuvering his zombie fighter through a sewer system.  They both knew Ilyn and Meryn were pigs, and Arya was the opposite of ugly, absolutely. “Plus, how is virgin even an insult?” he asked. Arya ignored him.

“Fuck them,” she said spitefully, and Gendry couldn't help smiling, although he knew she was upset and angry. She just was so full of needles. She caught him smiling and growled, “Fuck you, too, Gendry! Ugh. I want to kill them!”

“Arya stop,” he said definitively, not allowing her passionate anger to take over. “This is why they target you. Because you let it get to you.”

Arya's game ended. She'd let her guard down and been attacked on two sides.

“See?” he demanded.

She threw the controller down in defeat. “I just wish I could shut them up. But what am I supposed to do? Get pretty?” Gendry knew from experience that it made things worse if he tried to suggest she already was.

“Just ignore them,” Gendry repeated, for the millionth time, slaying the creatures who had attacked Arya.

“Maybe they're right,” Arya responded savagely. “Who cares if I’m ugly, anyway.” She hated that _she_ cared, and she would kill herself if she shed any tears over this. “If only I could show them they're wrong, just to shut them up,” she said to Gendry who was switching out the game.

“How,” he sighed, not even really asking. He was used to her vitriol-filled diatribes. She could be so volatile. One of the reasons Arya and Gendry were friends was that she was strong-minded and passionate.  One day, she somehow chose him and that was that.  Most of the time, he was amazed by her strength and bravery. But sometimes, it brought her trouble.

“Ugh,” she said, booting up the next game, a race game. Gendry chose his car and driver and Arya upgraded her tires. “Maybe you should just fuck me. Never mind, that wouldn't work. They'd never even know.”

The race started and Arya was way ahead of him before he took his eyes off her and focused back on the game.  He wondered if a day would go by where she didn't surprise him.  Of course she handily beat him in the race and seemed to have forgotten what she'd said entirely. "Ha! In your face, Waters!"

* * *

 

2.

Weeks later she was in his room again flipping through a magazine with a leather-clad girl on the cover.

“Is this yours?” she asked in disgust. He was restringing his guitar and looked up to see what she was talking about.

"Lommy's" he said, looking back down at the task at hand. She smirked. Of course it was Lommy’s. She read a smut-filled letter to the editor and laughed out loud. Gendry smiled. He loved the sound of Arya’s laugh, unless she was laughing at him. His brow furrowed.

“It’s not mine,” he made clear.

“I know, “ Arya said, pleasing him. Then, “Do you ever jack off to stuff like this?” she asked Gendry, paging through pictures of skin. It jolted him, although he couldn't say he didn't expect the unexpected from her.  

“Arya, really?” he asked, exasperated.

“What?”  she said, looking up from a double-page spread. “Are you saying you don't? Or you do? Or you won't tell me?  Come on. Who do you think about when you... And don't say you think about me or I'll know you're lying.”

Once she put it that way, he realized he didn't want to tell her because of course he thought about her that way. No other girl came close to thrilling him the way she did, even just when they were talking on the phone late at night together before going to sleep. She would get agitated about something and her voice would rush, full of feeling, conviction, irritation, and he felt satisfaction in the way she would calm down under his reassurances. Sometimes he believed that she needed him.

“Just tell me,” Arya bossed. “Tell me, and I’ll tell you who I…”

“Arya, no, I don’t want to hear it, and I don’t want to tell you.” His tone was calm, even bemused, despite his rapid heart beat.  It was the only way he thought she might drop it. True to form, Arya felt annoyed that he wasn’t the least bit curious about who she might think about in those moments. Not that she’d ever tell him who she really thought about, but he didn't know that. She wouldn’t let this rest until…

“Besides, Arya,” Gendry teased, strumming the newly strung guitar. “I know all about your crush on Jaqen.”

Arya threw the magazine at Gendry, who ducked and laughed, playing an instantly recognizable intro riff.

“Girl, you really got me going, you got me so I don’t know what I’m doing,” Gendry sang, taunting Arya. Singing to Arya was the one way guaranteed to make her blush.

“Fine, Gendry,” Arya stood, mad at herself for squirming under his gaze. It drove her crazy when he teased her. He was supposed to be the one who didn’t do that, unlike her brothers and sister, not to mention the kids at school. She threw her jacket on and picked up her satchel. “You don’t have to tell me anything. I’m leaving.”

He was laughing, until she called over her shoulder, “I’d nearly forgotten about Jaqen H’ghar. Thanks for reminding me.”

A beat passed before he yelled after her, “Thanks for leaving me the magazine!” His front door slammed.

* * *

 

3.

Another night not too long after, she called him pretty late.

“What are you doing?” she drawled casually.

“I'm looking for a part for my bike,” he said, scanning the eBay entries.

“That thing needs a whole new engine,” she said dismissively. Easy for her to say. He was hoping he could get this one part for under ten bucks. Best change the subject. He knew she was tired of the bike when it wasn't working, as much as she loved it when it did work.

“Anyway, Arya. What are you up to?”

“I'm naked under my covers,” she replied, as matter of factly as a six year old. But she wasn't six. She was six and ten. And prettier than she realized.

“Arya, stop it!” he said harshly, and she was surprised.

“Stop what?” she asked. “I just want to know what the big deal is. It's not like I'm texting you pictures. Am I so repulsive, Gendry, that you can't even know I'm naked somewhere in the world?”

“Arya, no! I _wish_ sometimes I thought you were repulsive.” There, he’d said it. In his anger, he’d admitted something, and for the first time, she felt a certain power she didn't know she had. Of course she knew about the power she _already_ had over Gendry from being louder than him and not taking no for an answer. And he could be stubborn, but he usually followed along with what she wanted, or gave in. Plus he was nicer than she was. But this... This was new.

“Well then just take off your clothes, Gendry, and talk to me.” It was a risk, but she was a risk-taker.

“Arya, are you mental?” She didn’t seem to understand that even this conversation might be permanently changing their relationship! He felt panicked at the thought of losing her.

"What would you rather I do? Call Lommy?" she threatened. Of course she understood she was changing their relationship! She was trying-- _trying_ \-- to make her move. He just wouldn’t let her.  It was maddening.

He was quiet for a minute, his grip tightening on his phone, and then he said, "Arya? I'm hanging up now," his voice clipped and rigid.

He was furious. With her and with himself. What was she thinking? He felt both used, although he'd done nothing, and invisible, although she'd called him specifically. He was filled with jealousy that she could be talking to anyone but him right now. And resentment at being attacked this way. He called Lommy first, who answered sleepily and said no he hadn't heard from Arya. Gendry told him to go back to sleep.

When he called Arya back, he didn't really expect her to answer. She hated being hung up on. It was one of their more common fights. Sometimes after a hang up, she would yell at him, swearing, sometimes in front of everyone.  And sometimes she didn't talk to him for days after he hung up on her. It was her payback. But this time she answered right away and Gendry was horrified to hear that she was crying, although she was trying not to let him know it.

“Alright Arya, I'm taking my shirt off,” he heard himself say, and Arya laughed a little through her sniffles.

“Not tonight, Gendry,” she said and then she asked about his motorcycle. That's when Gendry knew she was really contrite. He couldn't think of how to steer the conversation back to what was now all consuming in his mind: being naked with Arya.

* * *

 

4.

Sure enough, the phone call did change their relationship. Arya paid just enough attention to Gendry to dodge the charge that she was avoiding him. Gendry couldn’t stop thinking what might have happened if he hadn’t hung up the phone. He was both relieved and incensed by his decision to do so.

He caught up to her after school one day and said, “I got my bike running again-- want to go for a ride?” She never said no to the thrill of a motorcycle ride, and Gendry was secretly glad she would have to wrap her arms around him tightly.

“Well…” she hesitated, and he waited for the excuse, the rebuff. “I could use a lift to the Black and White Diner.” She had the grace to be uncomfortable and not quite be able to meet Gendry’s eye. Gendry exhaled heavily. He didn’t even know he’d been holding his breath.

The Black and White Diner had been one of their go-to after school snack stops, but then Jaqen H’ghar started working there. As far as Gendry was concerned, Jaqen and Arya had a weird relationship. Arya insisted that they were just friends. Gendry didn’t like the way Jaqen looked at Arya, or for that matter, the way Arya looked back. It was easier to just avoid the diner altogether.

“Why do you want to go there?” Gendry knew why. “Let’s go to the Seven Kingdoms’ Bakery for lemon cakes instead,” he implored, trying to take the stack of books from Arya’s hands. Arya hugged them away from him and wouldn’t let him hold them. She needed something to do with her hands, and something to hold in between him and herself.

“Sansa is the one who likes lemon cakes, stupid.” Gendry winced. She called him stupid all the time, but today it sounded mean. “I’m meeting Jaqen, okay? You don’t have to take me.” They were already at his bike.

“I said I would, Arya,” and now Gendry sounded mean. This wasn’t going the way Gendry had meant it to at all. “I mean,” he tried again, “Arya, it’s no problem for me to take you. I’d be happy to.” He sounded formal, but at least he also sounded genuine.

Arya could see he was trying, could see it would hurt him if she said no. As much as she felt hurt by his rejection of her, she didn’t want to hurt him.  Plus, she really did love riding his motorcycle.

He opened the little trunk that held their helmets and she put her stuff inside, reaching for the protective gear he held out to her.

“Arya,” he said, and there was a plaintive tone to his voice. She saw then, that the helmet he handed her had a new snarling wolf design painted on the back. It was fierce and bold and perfect. Her head snapped up and her eyes met Gendry’s, probably for the first time in weeks.

“What’s this?” she asked quietly, running her fingers over the artwork.

“It’s for you, Arya. I wanted to… I don’t know…” The moment had arrived and he’d lost his words. He tried again. “ The wolf…  it’s you, you know? You’re so fierce and you’re so… so… “ it was now or never. “... beautiful.”

She was quiet for a minute, her finger tracing the wolf’s outline. “And you can be so immovable. Why can’t you let things change?”

Gendry sighed and thought for a minute. “You’re a force of nature, Arya, Maybe you need someone set fast to charge against.”

Arya put her helmet on. “Maybe I do.”

Gendry took the long way to the Black and White Diner. After the weeks of distance, he relished the feel of Arya’s hands around his waist, hugging him more tightly than she had on previous rides. Finally, he drove her to the diner, where Jaqen was waiting outside.

“Hi Jaquen,” Arya said, unbuckling her helmet and gathering her things.

“A girl is beautiful, as always,” Jaquen said in his unusual, mysterious way. He issued the compliment so effortlessly. The same word had tripped and stuttered out of Gendry’s mouth.  Gendry simmered, staring at one spot on the parking lot pavement.

“Thanks,” Arya said casually.

“And a boy is here, too. Does a boy always follow a girl everywhere she goes?” Jaqen directed his sly gaze at Gendry.

“Why do you talk like that?” Gendry blurted, his patience at zero.

Jaqen didn’t answer him, instead turning to Arya. “A man can see that a boy and a girl have unresolved business. A man will honorably step out to make things easy for a girl.” He looked deeply into Arya’s eyes. Everything he did was deep. It was annoying, thought Gendry.

“Oh, Jaqen, I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Arya said, and she sounded so forlorn that Gendry wondered if he should do the honorable thing, instead.

Damn it. It pained him. He’d been so happy to finally have Arya back.  “No, you two. I’m in the wrong here. Please, allow me to leave you to your…” he didn’t want to say it. “...date.”  He climbed back onto his motorcycle.

“Gendry,” Arya said, sounding wistful, but she did not ask him to stay. He nodded his head.

“A man was wrong about a boy. A boy has honor. A boy is becoming a man,” Jaquen said to him, confounding Gendry one last time.

As Gendry rode away, Arya tried not to watch him ride into the distance.

“A man will stand by what he said earlier,” Jaqen said to her when he finally had her attention. “A boy and a girl must resolve their feelings. It is too bad for a man to admit, but a boy might be worth it.”

Arya hugged her friend. “A boy is very worth it,” she agreed.

* * *

 

5.

Ilyn and Meryn were at it again. “Here she comes!” one of them announced when she had the misfortune of using a stairwell they were hiding in to skip class. “She?! Looks more like an ‘it’ to me! Shouldn’t you be at the zoo, Arya?” and they laughed.

Ugh! It was infuriating to have to ignore these dumb louts! But Gendry had insisted they would stop tormenting her if she gave them no reaction. She walked past them with a careful non-expression on her face hoping their teasing would end there. Instead they followed her.

“Too good to talk to us, Arya?” one of those idiots said, and Arya snapped, “Better than too good for you!”  Ilyn and Meryn crowed at getting a response from her and high-fived each other nearly crying with laughter while Arya stormed away, steaming.

She didn’t race to tell Gendry about it.  They were getting along again, but Gendry was giving her all this space she didn’t need and not looking at her anymore. Their time together was far from casual and relaxed, both of them acting as if nothing had changed, both of them not mentioning Jaqen H’ghar.

Jaqen was really nice to Arya, and liked her, which gave a real boost to her confidence right when she needed it, for which she would always be fond of him. But he was way older than her and had enough experience with the world that when it came down to her being six and ten, “A man will always be a friend to a girl. A girl belongs with a boy.”

It made Arya crazy. Even Jaqen knew that she and Gendry belonged together, but neither subtle hints, admittedly bungled attempts at flirting, nor brazen acts of overt sexual bravado worked on him. The only silver lining was that he didn’t seem interested in other girls, either.

For Gendry’s part, he was slow to understand that Arya had any interest in him at all, although he’d been interested in her since day one. He simply didn’t think he was good enough for her because of how clearly amazing she was. How could a simple and- to be honest- _useless_ , guy like him deserve such a firecracker of a person? And then when he finally did get that she was willing to give him a shot, he’d ruined everything and she’d moved on to the charming Jaqen H’ghar. How Gendry hated that even he understood the appeal.

Even she didn’t want to unload on Gendry while their relationship was so tenuous, Arya was still furious about her incident with Ilyn and Meryn when she met Gendry at lunch. She begged Gendry to just skip the rest of the day with her. “Is your bike working? Let’s just get out of here,” she implored. Gendry agreed, hoping that an afternoon together would normalize the weirdness between them, and they headed out to the student parking lot.

Of course, who should they encounter but the two bullies smoking against the fence. It began at once:

“There she is! Hello, Princess!” Cackling laughter ensued. Arya glanced at Gendry. _See what I’m dealing with here??_ He eyed her in return. _Don’t respond._

“Princess? Don’t you mean the Queen? The Ice Queen!”  

“The Virgin Queen!”

Arya could hold back no more, “Idiots! You’re such idiots! Look! I have a boyfriend! Stop bothering me!” She knew the lie would probably be obvious. She and Gendry were no more boyfriend and girlfriend than Ilyn and Meryn were.

They whooped with laughter.  They weren’t buying it. “Oh, so just the Queen, then! Gendry, you stud!”

“It’s not me, you assholes,” Gendry savagely barked. “It’s Jaqen H’ghar.” He spit the name out as if it were distasteful in his mouth. Arya’s own mouth dropped open and she stared at Gendry. Either he was a very good actor or he really believed she was dating Jaqen.

As for Ilyn and Meryn, they quieted at once. “You know Jaqen H’ghar?” one asked, and Arya had a split second to decide whether to confirm or deny Gendry’s story.

Gendry did it for her. “How could she be dating him if she didn’t know him? And what difference does it make to you? Don’t tell me one of you fools is in love with her, too? Or maybe the both of you are?” He was angry. He was a fool. 

Ilyn and Meryn stamped out their cigarettes and started walking away.

“Bye, boys!” Arya called after them. “I’ll tell Jaqen you say hello!” Arya was beside herself with glee, nearly rolling, clutching Gendry, who was standing very still.

“That was awesome!” she cried out, not yet noticing Gendry’s stony silence. As her laughter subsided, she tried to tug him by the elbow to his bike parked nearby, but her giggles stopped short when she finally noticed that Gendry was glowering at her.

“What?” she asked palely, wilting considerably.

“What is this, Arya?” he seethed. He took a deep breath while Arya shook her head. She seemed to be trying to sort out why he was mad. Didn’t she know?

“What are you talking about?” she puzzled, quietly.

“This!” He waved at the space between them. _Us!_  he didn’t say. “I’m going to class, Arya.” He turned to storm away and then --

“Jaqen H’ghar is not my boyfriend,” Arya yelled at him angrily. “You’re so stupid! Over and over and over again!” She strode past him punching him, hard, in the arm, and he was left staring after her, rooted to the spot.

* * *

 

6.

He called her after school and she didn’t answer. That night, he left another message, which she deleted. The next day, she wasn’t at school, so he dropped by her house, which he hated doing because it seemed even more obvious that she was out of his league. It was just so imposing. He rang the doorbell and waited, glancing up at the surveillance camera and waving.  Sansa came to the door and said Arya didn’t want to see him. “I’m sorry,” Sansa said to him. “Keep trying."

It was worse than other times when she wouldn’t talk to him. Other times, it almost just made him like her more, how she refused to give an inch. He always knew she’d come around.  This time, he wasn’t so sure.

Days passed. Then a week.  He kept calling, kept leaving the same apology, knowing she wasn’t even listening to his messages. She didn’t at first. And then she did. And then she replayed the messages just to hear his voice.  But he was so stupid and stubborn!

Finally, she talked to Jaqen about it. First, she told him about Ilyn and Meryn (“A man will fix this,” he had said), then she described how she’d tried to imply that Gendry was her boyfriend and how he’d totally misunderstood her ploy and gotten so mad about it (“A boy is jealous.”). Then she’d told Jaqen about how Gendry’d tried to just ditch their conversation, just leave her standing there.

“A boy is hurting, Arya. A girl is hurting, too,” he had said.  Arya resolved to answer the phone.

She didn’t have to wait long for his call and he seemed stunned to hear her pick up. “Arya?” he fumbled.

“Hello, Gendry,” she allowed. They spoke only long enough to arrange to meet at a coffee shop near school.

He stood abruptly when she came in, his chair scuttering loudly across the linoleum tiles of the shop floor. Neither could hide the shy grins that escaped at seeing each other, being together again, even through the pain of the distance they both still felt.

She sat across from him, and he took her hand from across the table, something he had never done before. He was afraid she’d snatch her hand away, but she squeezed his hand instead, and he grew in his seat, allowing his shallow breaths to get deeper.

They spoke stiltedly at first, generically, both waiting for a sign from the other. The sign was just willingness. They both were intent on the other.

Gendry started with, “You know how we’re friends?” and Arya slumped in her seat a bit, tried to reclaim her hand. Gendry’s grip on her tightened. “Well, I think it’s clear, you’re more than a friend to me. You’re maybe everything, Arya.” It wasn’t a question, but it wasn’t quite not a question, either. He looked at Arya for a signal that she understood him.

Her grey eyes met his blue ones and she took her other hand and clasped their two, joined at the center of the table. He grinned a slow sure grin.  

“Well of course I’m everything, you stupid,“ she said tenderly.  “Took you long enough to sort that out!”

* * *

 

That night, Arya called Gendry just before bedtime.

“What are you wearing?” she said in her most obviously coy whisper. Gendry chuckled, taking off his shirt. “I never thought I’d get another shot at this,” he joked to his new girlfriend. Arya laughed out loud as she sunk under her covers.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
